2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, we had a chance to look at the power of God and how it is always balanced with righteousness. That examination and the one we will do today leads us to have a better understanding of why God deserves nothing less than our obedience and lends mounting evidence that He always keeps His promises. Not only is that important to the choices we make during our lives, but it gives us compelling cause to believe that promises not yet fulfilled will be. The Bible is God’s love letter to the children He loves. It is also a guide, a road map, for helping us to live righteously and “in Christ.” Let’s look at some more of the citations using the name, Adonai, God, our Lord and Master. They will support all that I have already said.
Back in GN 15: 1-2, God told Abram He would not have to leave a promised reward to his slave, Eliezer, due to having no children. Instead, he would have a heir of his own lineage. Without faith, Abram would have laughed such a promise off. After all, Abram was already an elderly man with a wife well past child-bearing years. As this story unfolds, we know that Abram not only had a child of the promise, Isaac, with Sarah, but that he was to become a father of nations, including God’s own chosen people, the Jews. I can assure you Abram had no idea of the enormous scope of the promises he would receive from God when he obediently agreed to leave Mesopotamia at God’s command. When God asks us to do something, how do we know that He might not have some very important and far-reaching agenda in this? It’s hard for us to think beyond the limited scope of the life that is familiar to us. God knows this, but He also knows that He can accomplish amazing things through ordinary people who obey Him. When we have true faith, we can know that each and every one of us is important to Him. Thus, the state of our obedience to Him matters at all times.
Paul wrote to the Galatians about the Law and the promise using Abraham as an example. GN 15: 6, where Abram was deemed acceptable to the Lord simply because he had faith, is mentioned in GA 3: 6. GA 3: 11, “Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the scriptures [RO 1: 17 & HB 2: 4] say, ‘Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live.’” Who, other than Christ Himself, could perfectly keep 613 laws? That’s how many Jewish people were expected to obey. The purpose of the Law was so that mankind could know what is right and what isn’t, not to provide justification or salvation [RO 7: 7]. Paul knew that the impossibility of perfectly keeping all those laws was a curse, but he was inspired by God to direct people’s attention to His promises. GAL 3: 15-16, “My brothers, I am going to use an everyday example: when two people agree on a matter and sign an agreements, no one can break it or add anything to it. Now, God made His promises to Abraham and to his Descendant. The Scripture [GN 12: 7] does not use the pleural, “descendants,” meaning many people, but the singular, “Descendant,” meaning one person only, namely, Christ.” Just as God pledged the land of Canaan to the Jews in the Abrahamic covenant and kept that promise, He will also keep His promise (also a part of that Abrahamic Covenant) of a King. Our Lord intends for Jesus Christ to rule His permanent and eternal Kingdom-a promise I witness to you today that He will keep in our future.
God has every right to expect our obedience. With submission to Him on our part, He supplies every need we might have to carry out His commandments. The word, “Lord,” is translated from the Hebrew words, “Jehovah,” “Adon,” or “Adonai.” God is truly, Adonai, our Lord and Master. EX 4: 10-15, illuminates God’s will at times when He gives a person an assignment, and that person, in this case, Moses, objects. “But Moses said, ‘No, Lord, do not send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I haven’t become one since You began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant.’ The Lord said to him, ‘Who gives man his mouth? Who gived him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the Lord. Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what it say.’ But Moses answered,’ No Lord, please send someone else.’ At this the Lord became angry with Moses and said, ‘What about your brother, Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. In fact, he is now coming to meet you and will be glad to see you. You can speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you to speak, and I will tell you both what to do.’” In this passage, we can see the balance of awesome power that God has with the compassion and patience He shows. An evil god would have struck Moses down the moment he objected to this assignment. You can be sure that Moses had no idea of the extent and importance of what he was being asked to do. Not only was God commanding Moses to trust Him, but He was offering his help to both Moses and Aaron. Those are the acts of a Lord and Master both omnipotent and loving at the same time.
I hope you will take the time to read IS 6: 1-8, which is the story of Isaiah’s commission to be God’s prophet. His response had to have been pleasing to God. IS 6: 8, “Then I [Isaiah] heard the Lord say, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘I will go! Send me!’” Isaiah must have had some limited idea that he would face a very sinful Israel with a very unpopular message. Yet, that didn’t stop him from accepting his assignment. Throughout it all, God protected him over a long and productive life of service. God also equipped him for that service with a fine mind, a command of the language to convey His words, and tenacious faith in the face of enormous opposition. Isaiah obeyed Adonai faithfully, and we have all been blessed by his writings. It is also interesting to note the use of the word, “our,” in this citation. Here is another place where a clear reference to God’s Trinitarian nature is made in the OT.
PRAYER: O Lord, no man has ever displayed the balance between power and love that You do. Though there are times when we can’t see the fairness, timing, or full reason behind an assignment You give us, You never ask us to do anything unrighteous or that You haven’t first equipped us to do. Your servants from the past have often objected and certainly been imperfect; that is true because we are born sinners. Yet, Your love, compassion, and patience with mankind should never be ignored. It is all over the pages of the Bible, and it is seen in Your dealings with us in our personal lives. We acknowledge that we do not have Your perfect perspective, and that the only way we can reach closer toward it is to demonstrate our love for You by obeying You. It is not important for us to always understand every detail or far-reaching consequence of an assignment You give us. What matters is that we trust You enough to obey You. When we do, we and others, some we may not even ever know, are blessed by that. We offer You thanks and praise for the work of the cross. In humility, we glorify You and pledge our adoration and worship for equipping us to participate in You always-important work. We honor You for bringing Your wisdom, guidance, compassion, love, and grace into our lives. You, Dear Adonai, are the Lord of our lives! In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at Adonai as Yahweh and Jehovah-Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts. What a blessed people we are when we trust and obey our Lord. I heard a story on the radio this morning about a man who had lost his wife. Because he had not come to faith yet in his life, this man felt helpless, abandoned, lost, and without hope. Fortunately, some faithful friends were successful in introducing him to the Lord that had always loved him. As the months after his loss rolled by, this man began to realize that although he had turned his back on God, God had never turned His back on him. Today, He lives with the hope that the faith we all share gives us. That is why we never have to feel lost and abandon in times of loss or challenge. Bask in the warm glow of that faith. Know that we stand illuminated by the light given us by God’s word-a light which chases away hopelessness and bathes us in God’s love. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn